9/19/08

Getting Into the Green (sorry, it's not about money)




Getting our kids to eat their veggies can be tough, even kids who like veggies can have a hard time eating the proper amount.
They are always on the run and need lots of good energy foods.
A few months ago I picked up a book called The Raw Detox Diet for myself. I was feeling a bit sluggish and needed a good inner scrubbing! One of the healthful things the author suggests to have every day is something that is brilliantly named Green Lemonade. She says in the book that it can become addicting, I thought ACK how could kale juice become addicting? I gave it the benefit of the doubt and I started juicing this green lemonade every morning. I had a juicer from my obsessive days of drinking carrot juice (that is a whole other story in itself) when ones hands turn a strange shade of rust it is time to step away from the carrots. Back away from the carrots...and I did.
Anyway back to the story, so I juiced: Kale, apple, ginger, lettuce, lemon and guess what? I LOVED IT, I loved it so much I offered it to my 5 year old, telling her it was called, green lemonade. She loved it too. The lemon cuts the "green" taste and the apple adds sweetness. If you have a finicky kid try adding agave nectar to sweeten it up, agave has a low glycemic index and is better for you than sugar.

So what's your point Jen? My point is is that if you call something as bizarre as kale juice and lemon something a kid can relate to they are much more likely to try it. Now it is possible that your child may not like it but you can experiment with the lemon, add more apple and bingo you have a perfect veggie in a cup all you need is a straw!

Recipe for


Green Lemonade
adapted from Natalia Rose The Raw Food Detox Diet
For juicing try to buy organic especially when juicing the peels.
for kids cut this in 1/2 and add ice to dilute and you can drink the rest.
Warning: this can be intense so start small and work up, I do double this recipe in the am for myself.
Tip:
Ginger does not have a long shelf life so I wash and cut my ginger into coins and store it in the freezer. You can toss it in to most the juicers or thaw it a bit in the microwave.


1 apple, cut peel on
1/2 lemon, cut, peel on
1/2-1 head Romaine lettuce, washed
1 large kale leaf or more if desired If using Dino Kale use 2 or more)
1/2 inch ginger, peel on

Juice all ingredients as machine suggests, drink and enjoy.


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11 comments:

Unknown said...

I just read about a similar recipe in Shape magazine and I wanted to try it but was still a little iffy. I used to juice but stopped when I had a bizarre situation with beets similar to your carrots....I am def going to try this now though! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

A few weeks back, I attempted a "detox" of no caffeine, no alcohol and sadly no cheese (my three vices). But I wanted to try something a bit more detoxing... So thanks for the post about this drink, I will have to try it out.

Sounds good for you, while not going on a full fledged starving yourself detox.

Great pic too. It stood out on TasteSpotting!

s.calder said...

hi! i saw your photo on tastespotting...it's very beautiful. I do not own a juicer, however. Do you think it would work in a blender? Or would that be too odd a texture?

Esi said...

One of my friends is on this same exact diet. She told me about it last week and I looked at her like she was crazy, but she swore by this juice. I may have to try it now that there are a few confirmations that it is great!

Dianna said...

This looks yummy. Thanks!

Food For Tots said...

What a fantastic recipe for kids! I must try it for my son. Yummy!

Colon Cleanse said...

Looks great recipe! I have never seen like this one. Thanks for this.

Colon Cleanse

Acai Berry

love your column! said...

uhm. sorry to point this out! but in the article you mentioned lemon, but t was never mentioned in the recipe? could you please advise on the amount of lemon necessary?

Jennifer Carden said...

Dear love your column, lemon is the second ingredient in the ingredient list. I tend to use a whole one to cut the "green" taste.

Zeewmn said...

This is great tasting. The apple gives it enough sweetness to cut all the green taste of the kale. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Agave nectar is NOT good for you. It's created the same way HighFructoseCornSyrup is.

http://www.foodrenegade.com/agave-nectar-good-or-bad/

use raw honey instead, maybe?

Other than that, the drink sounds awesome, and when I get my juicer back (juicer#1 was defective), this will definitely be on my list!!